


whenever you need me baby, call me, beep me.

by melbopo



Series: SHAUM S2 to S3 Hiatus Prompts [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Brief Malec, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Feelings Realization, Getting Together, Most characters are minor except for Izzy and Maia, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 22:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12351732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melbopo/pseuds/melbopo
Summary: It's very unlike Maia to miss a physics class, actually it's very unlike them to missanyclass this close to finals but Izzy's trying not to let worst case scenarios consume her mind cause sure, they're no longer the enemies they were at the beginning of the semester but they aren't quitefriendseither. But after Maia's absent for a week, Izzy much rather worry about Maia and where they are instead of what the competitive relationship between them means.~~~~~for the sh au mondays prompt: education





	whenever you need me baby, call me, beep me.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [agustdyke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/agustdyke/gifts).



> a continuation in Ju's AU world aka physics Professor Bane and mechanical engineer/photographer grad student Alec (aka forces on the heart)!  
> -set about three months from that first fic but it doesn't need to be read to understand this fic.
> 
> a more legit friendaversary mini gift dedication to my boo julius  
> -may they enjoy all the little personal easter eggs in this fic and that their recovery &health return faster than maia's in this fic ❤
> 
> (title from the kim possible theme song cause i'm lazy xoxo)

Izzy isn't worried when a certain curly headed someone is absent from their shared advanced physics class on Wednesday. They don't even sit next to each other so Izzy has no _real_ reason to notice their absence but since they sit on opposite sides of the room sometimes when someone makes a non sequitur comment or question, they'll share a look across the classroom of mutual annoyance. Those moments are probably the only ones in their relatively new friendship (or frenemy-ship) where they get along on some level: when someone else is holding up the delivery of important information that is of the topic of their academic competition. What exactly they are competing for, Izzy is not positive but she does enjoy the steady push to be better from the other top student in the class. It's really helped her expand her knowledge of how physics interacts with her other subjects. And being top in her classes always feels more satisfying to Izzy when she knows that she has to put in that extra bit of work to remain there.

~~~~~~~

By the end of class on Friday, Izzy is feeling a little tingling in her stomach of something that might just construed as worry when once again her ~~friend~~ ~~competitor~~ _classmate_ is absent. Every minute of class that passes without that beautiful someone sitting in their seat, a new worst case scenario is added to the running list in Izzy’s head. When the list gets to be over a dozen, it’s too much for her. Izzy rationalizes with herself to simply ask Professor Bane if he's heard from them after class so she can refocus on taking notes instead of adding more creative reasons for why they could be out of class. The rest of class goes by slowly without much fanfare, though Izzy can't help but swivel her head back to look every time she hears the classroom door open, to ensure that it isn't the late rival of a certain someone.

Once class is over, Izzy folds over her notebook and shoves it into her backpack, pulling her bag on as she quickly makes her way to the desk at the front of the classroom. Professor Bane looks up briefly at Izzy from packing up his satchel with the homework problems from that week, "coming to office hours today?"

"Actually no," Izzy twists the shoulder straps on her backpack before laying them flat again, suddenly feeling a little nervous and hesitant to ask about someone that she barely is even acquaintances with nevermind friends. Trying not to look too deeply into that reasoning, Izzy barrels through that train of thought with her question. "I was wondering if you've heard from Maia lately?"

Professor Bane pauses for a moment, clearly running through all the names of people that have recently contacted him . "No, I don't think they've emailed me this past week. Why?" His eyebrows pull together as he focuses on buckling his satchel closed.

"I was curious - they just haven't been in class since Monday." The concern that Izzy is feeling must bleed into her words because Professor Bane looks up to give her a soft, reassuring smile. "I"m sure they're fine - perhaps battling some sort of cold and trying to recover fully before all the end of semester assignments are due."

It's a logical answer and one that Izzy would probably follow if she too were sick. Though the fact that Maia didn't even let Professor Bane know they're sick seems odd, but Izzy takes his words for the reassurance that they are meant to be, dispelling the building worry from her mind. "You're probably right - thanks!"

"Which reminds me, have you made a decision about being a grader for this class next semester?" Professor Bane prods as he shoulders his bag.

"Yes! I spoke to my research professor and I should be able to work a couple of hours every week. I'm actually going to submit my paperwork to the tutoring center after lunch today." Izzy's smile is genuine, looking forward to the extra income on top of the money she currently gets for the research hours she does every week as well as working for another professor she admires.

"Great! Bat and Aline have already submitted their forms but I'm just waiting for the school to sort out its bureaucracy about approving Maia as both a grader and research assistant. Then we'll be all set for next semester." Professor Bane fishes his keys out of the front small pocket of his bag. "I'll see you Monday then - have a great weekend Isabelle."

"You too Professor Bane!" Izzy responds with a parting wave before heading in the opposite direction of the classroom and the scene of her budding concern over Maia's absence.

Over the weekend, Izzy takes the time to copy her advanced physics notes from Wednesday and Friday onto another sheet of paper with the different heading colors like Maia does on their joint lab project notes. The process helps channel the lingering worried energy she didn’t successfully dispel over their lack of presence in class and the fact that Izzy has absolutely no way to contact them besides email (which Izzy did try to subtly do by asking if they got their latest lab report grade but received no response), into something productive.

~~~~~~~

Izzy's Monday morning class runs a little over which almost makes her late to her advanced physics class, sliding in her front row seat with only minutes to spare. Her eyes automatically look over to the other side of the classroom, seeking out Maia's passionate, attentive gaze and is saddened when once again, they aren’t there. That inkling of concern on Friday that simmered over the weekend, has now bubbled over into full on worried territory: some of Izzy's worst case theories might just be true.

When class ends with still no sign of Maia, Izzy isn't exactly proud of her next course of action but she is getting a little desperate. Izzy knows that her brother works Monday afternoons at the campus cafe so it is highly likely that she will find Simon (Maia's ex but still best friend) there, snarking with (and pining over) Jace.

Izzy is so consumed with worry about Maia's safety by this point that she doesn't even take the moment to bask in her correct hypothesis before rounding on Simon's table, "where's Maia?"

Clearly surprised by her sudden appearance, Simon drops and flounders to catch his blueberry scone. "What? Who?" The scone lands on the table but not before Simon bangs his hand against the top of the table in the process. His holds his injured hand as he looks over at Izzy, his eyes a little wider than his glasses usually make them look. "What about Maia?"

"Where are they? They've missed the past week of physics and haven't responded to my emails." Even though it was one email, Simon doesn’t need to know that. After startling him so bad he dropped his food, Izzy feels like she has to show probable reason for her behavior.

While it might be common for some students to skip a week of classes due to having a cold, especially one with lectures available online, Maia isn't like most students and hasn't missed a single physics class or lab all semester. It is very unlike them to miss class for just any reason, they even came to class when they had a miserable, runny nose cold and proceeded to go through a box of tissues over the course of the lecture. But it's especially unlike them to miss any class or office hours when their last test before the final exam is the upcoming weekend. Izzy has heard Maia turn down weekend trips towards the end of the semester to ensure that they would make it to class on time and have a rested, productive weekend. These are the reasons all the ideas that are running through Izzy's mind right now are really truly worst _worst_ case scenarios.

"In their dorm room - they were just discharged from a practically quarantine lockdown Friday afternoon." Simon says with a simple shrug as if this is common knowledge to everyone on campus.

"And where would that be?"

~~~~~~~

After buying Simon an apology scone for ambushing him, Izzy heads to Maia's dorm since she still has an hour before her next class. She starts to knock three times sharply on the dorm room door next to the number that Simon supplied but before she can finish her third knock, the door swings open quickly, startling her back. An exhausted looking, red nosed Maia, with the usual vibrancy in their cheeks drained and the fire in their eyes dimmed, stands on the other side of the door in soft gray university sweatpants and sweatshirt.

"Were you waiting for me?" Izzy can't help but ask about the abrupt response.

Maia draws their eyebrows together, "yeah, Simon warned me. What do you want? Why are you here?"

That's what finally gives Izzy pause, that question makes her halt and really ask herself: _'why am I here? why did I notice that Maia was absent this past week? why did I feel the need to see them? to copy my notes?'_ Izzy realizes that the answers to all those questions are the same: she cares about Maia... a lot. And she knows that she cares more than she cares about just any other classmate because she has a _crush_ on this smart, witty, force to be reckoned with in front of her. It's a little too late to socially be able to turn back now Izzy realizes (from the door or her crush). She blushes as she unhooks one strap from her bag off her shoulder and swings it forward. Izzy goes with a played down version of her freshly realized truth to lessen the odds of scaring Maia off, "you were absent from class the past week.... and I was worried. I copied my notes for you."

"Yeah I've been living in a room at health services because somehow I got scarlet fever." Maia explains with an annoyed huff like they still aren't over their quarantine experience and the fact that they had scarlet fever in the twenty first century. Their confused expression deepens, eyebrows coming even closer together as they reach for the stack of papers in Izzy's outstretched hand. Their expressions eases as they glance over Izzy's copied notes, "wow thanks. This is.. really nice of you to do." They look back up to Izzy, their expression still slightly mystified as if they are trying to understand Izzy’s angle. "Especially cause I thought you hated me."

"What? Why would I hate you?" Izzy doesn't even try to hide the confusion and slight hurt in her tone at Maia's comment.

"Because I was your only competition to be able to do research with Professor Bane..." Maia states as it's the most obvious answer in the world.

"I never wanted to do research with Professor Bane - I'm already doing research with my advisor and that's enough for me." Izzy's confused expression slowly unravels into understanding.

"Oh."

They both start laughing when they realize that the competitive edge between them was pretty much unnecessary this past semester. Maia grins, a little fire returning to their eyes. "Sorry I'm still unprogramming all my childhood tv shows that taught me to register any woman as my competition."

"I think I'm right there with you." Izzy says with another chuckle as she thinks of how often of a plotline that was in her favorite television shows. It reminds her of how it influenced her childhood and how that ties into how she felt this past week, not knowing if Maia was okay and not really have a way to contact them. Maybe it stems from Maia’s vulnerability in this moment, but Izzy finds a push to be vulnerable herself, deciding that now is as good of a time as any to reveal at her feelings. "Growing up, I struggled to grasp some of those rivalries. Like I always thought Shego was trying to one up Kim to impress her and win over her heart, that their competition was just their way of flirting and they'd eventually date."

Maia looks a little guarded, their eyes flicking over Izzy's face, cataloguing her hesitant smile, blushing cheeks, and watchful eyes. The smile on their lips grows as they realize the honesty in what Izzy is revealing, "I'd be interested... if you are... in dating."

"Really?"

“Yeah - really.” Maia’s lips stretch into a smile at Izzy's unmistakable enthusiasm.

An idea begins to materialize in Izzy’s mind as she looks down at the notes in Maia’s hand and back up at their face. “Would tomorrow be too soon for a date? Are you feeling well enough?”

“Maybe - today was just my last day to rest and catch up on everything I missed this past week but I probably can’t do anything that requires a lot of energy for another week or so." Maia says with a small shrug.

“That’s fine! I was thinking we could hang out tomorrow to clarify any questions you have on my notes and if you don’t have any, we could watch the first episodes of the Star Trek Discovery reboot that just came out?”

Maia’s whole body relaxes and their smile becomes softer, “I’d love that.”

“I’ll even make chicken soup so it’ll be a real date.” Izzy says, wanting to make sure they both are on the same page about tomorrow being a study date _date._

Maia laughs at the offer, “sounds like a perfect date.”

“Hey, don’t jinx it now.” Izzy’s smile is teasing, the butterflies in her stomach flutter with every laugh and smile Maia sends her way.

Maia rolls their eyes playfully in response, “you’re an engineering major with a 3.8 GPA, I believe in your ability to not mess up chicken soup.”

Izzy is about to warn Maia about her nonexistent track record for being a decent cook when her phone vibrates, signifying her alarm to get to class. “I have to go but I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah - here at five?” Maia suggests, resting their head against their door frame as Izzy swings her bag back on her back. When Izzy nods in confirmation, they smile. “I’m looking forward to our date.”

“Me too.” Izzy agrees before giving a small wave before turning to walk down the hall. She’s only taken a few steps when Maia calls out to her,

“Hey Izzy!”

Izzy turns on her toes in the middle of the hallway to face Maia again. They wave the notes in their hand slightly, “thanks for copying your notes for me -it really means a lot.”

~~~~~~

Izzy spends the rest of her Monday on this warm cloud of excitement, not just about the impending date but about the fact that Maia is interested in dating at all. It also eases Izzy to know that they were able to come to a resolution about this competitive dynamic between them, not that they don’t have to push each other or compete but that they understand the _why_ behind it more. All of these bubbling feelings and unloading of burdens she wasn’t even aware she was holding are Izzy’s reasoning for why her promise to make chicken soup completely skips her mind until about 11pm at night once her work for the week is done and she throws together something real quick for their date.

It’s also her excuse when Maia spits out their first spoonful of the chicken soup broth over how salty the final concoction is. (Which doesn’t spoil the date at all, rather it gives Maia a good story to tell at dinner parties and family functions about how their future wife tried to kill them with too much sodium on their first date.)

~~~BONUS (s/o to commenter Emma on forces on the heart for this piece!)~~~

The idea of knocking doesn’t even cross Izzy’s mind when she sees a the crack of sunlight from Professor Bane’s slightly open office door piercing through the dark corner of the hallway like a beacon of salvation for her and Maia’s three hour disagreement over the correct process to solve one of the physics final exam questions. Izzy looks back at Maia with something like a triumphant fire in her eyes as she swings the office door the rest of the way open without a second of hesitation, fully confident in the validity of her argument and the fact that Professor Bane is in his office at that moment (okay so he said he would be when he replied to Izzy’s email question about having graded her and Maia’s final exams).

“So Professor Bane, which one of us got the third question right? You were supposed to solve for the distance then-” Isabelle stops mid sentence at Maia’s wide eyed expression and tightened grip on her hand. Izzy turns her head quickly to look into the office, startled to see that Professor Bane isn’t actually alone. “Oh.”

Someone sits on the desk, back to Izzy, with Professor Bane standing in the v of their parted legs, his hands on their hips while their hands gripping his upper arms. Professor Bane tilts his head sideways to look at the person on his desk, one eyebrow raised and an amused tilt to his red kissed lips. They groan in response, “guess I locked the door but didn’t fully close it?” Professor Bane’s eyebrow just raises higher in a silent, judgmental: ‘you think?’ which Izzy would find comical if she wasn’t trying to place that familiar voice.

Maia starts to apologize, “sorry we didn’t mean to barge in-”

“Alec?” Izzy interrupts, only partly embarrassed at the slow take to recognize the voice of her brother. Alec turns his head to look over his shoulder, “hey Iz…”

Now Professor Bane looks confused at this development, “wait, Isabelle is your sister you took notes for?”

“Yes,” Alec says as he turns back to Professor Bane, who looks between Alec and Izzy with more confusion. “Half siblings technically - different mothers.” Professor Bane’s corner of his lips turn down slightly as he nods his head in understanding.

Izzy uses Professor Bane and Alec’s moment to take in the whole scenario before her, feeling like she finally has the missing clue that connects all these little things she’s noticed over the past three months. “Well the increased presence of Alec’s smile and the chalk dust on his clothes certainly makes sense now.” Alec plunks his forehead onto Magnus’s shoulder, probably to hide his burning cheeks at Izzy calling out just how happy and smitten he is with Professor Bane. Professor Bane smiles softly in response as he kisses the top of Alec’s head. “But back to the real issue at hand, who was right for question three? Maia or me?”

**Author's Note:**

> I know some details are wonky in this fic and I planned to iron them out but I got really sick all of a sudden so I posted it as it - sorry sorry sorry for that!  
> please let me know if anything major glares out at you or what your thoughts on maia & izzy as science boos are??? either in the comments or in your tags on the [tumblr post](https://maiababerts.tumblr.com/post/166365773281/whenever-you-need-me-baby-call-me-beep-me-a)!
> 
> (ps. maia and izzy were both right - there were different routes one could take to solve the question.
> 
> pss. magnus encourages maia to pursue a physics degree instead of marine biology so she can have the physics background to research the environmental influences that impact shark's electromagnetic communication !!!)


End file.
